A new trial is set to begin in Turkey on Monday (10 am local time) against former Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, who is regarded as a possible challenger to incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Three other people are also facing charges alongside the opposition politician. The state news agency Anadolu reported that the Istanbul Public Prosecutor’s Office accuses them of "political espionage".
The indictment alleges that İmamoğlu, his campaign adviser Necati Özkan, businessman Hüseyin Gün and journalist Merdan Yanardağ ran a criminal network and passed data on Turkish citizens on to foreign intelligence services.
The aim, it is claimed, was to influence the 2019 election campaign – when CHP politician İmamoğlu was first elected mayor of Istanbul. Before that, Erdoğan’s AKP had governed the city for many years.
The CHP, the country’s largest opposition party, regards the trial as politically motivated. The defendants face prison sentences of between 15 and 20 years if convicted. All four are currently in pre-trial detention.
İmamoğlu was removed from office as mayor of Istanbul and arrested in March 2025 in a separate case involving allegations of corruption.
